POWERGRAMS

CUSTOMER SERVICE Representatives celebrate 40 years of helping callers A s one of the Customer Service Center's earliest part in the festivities. Retirees were invited back to employees, Helen Tarver remembers reminisce about the many changes they have seen the days when doing business via the latest during the center's 40-year history. technologies meant relying on microfiche and As the featured speaker at the Birmingham event, computer terminals connected to room-sized Executive Vice President Steve Spencer thanked servers. But those communication tools, which employees for the work they do on the front lines seemed revolutionary when the CSC opened 40 every day as the heart of the company. years ago, are a mere shadow of the advanced "You serve as the primary point of contact between technologies Tarver and her co-workers use today Alabama Power and our customers. Your role is to meet their customers' needs. critical in ensuring our customers remain very "Technology has done tremendous things for satisfied with us," Spencer said. "Beyond this and us and has improved all that we do," said Tarver, perhaps most importantly, the assistance you quality assurance specialist, Customer Service-Quality and Training. "At the time, I thought microfiche was awesome because we could find any customer's address on it. But now we're paperless. We can look up most anything we need online, and we no longer have to stick Post-it notes all over our cubes to help us remember information." On June 24, the CSC Gigi Williams, left, and Betsy Weidenbach with milestone emblem. celebrated its 40th anniversary. Photos by Alex Fratkin Libby Lathum, Janine Turner, Carol Bibb and Michael Jordan handed out anniversary momentoes. Employees at the north and south centers took a look back at the early days, reflecting on how switchboards, terminals, microfiche and other basic communication processes became the foundation of today's CSC. Now, along with communicating with customers on the phone, employees do business via the Web, advanced computer software, smartphones, email and social media sites, such as FaceBook and Twitter. Spencer, left, and Porter spoke to employees. "These vehicles have allowed the Customer Service Center to grow into a technological success," Director Jonathan Porter told employees. "The advances allow the representatives to be engaged and have the ability to serve our customers more efficiently than ever before." In 1973, the CSC opened with 36 employees and has grown to nearly 200 representatives – 40 percent of whom are teleworkers doing their jobs without leaving home. Together, the north and south centers respond to about 7 million calls each year. That's more than 80 percent of customers who do business with Alabama Power. Celebrations in Birmingham and Montgomery gave all CSC employees the opportunity to take provide allows our customers to maintain a sense of normalcy in their lives. Our customers know they can call us anytime, and we will be here to help them." At the Montgomery celebration, Southern Division Vice President Leslie Sanders recognized CSC employees as the backbone of the company's divisions. "Because you handle such a large percentage of customer issues, it helps free up employees in our business offices who are assisting walk-in customers," Sanders said. "Not only are you the best in outage situations, but you are there to interact with customers every day. Your concern, helpfulness and professionalism speaks to your commitment to your customers and the great job you do." Employees celebrated with a cake decorated with a 40th anniversary Customer Service seal and enjoyed a photo slideshow of the past 40 years. Banners embossed with the seal are displayed at each center. Porter closed the celebration by congratulating employees on their hard work. "A lot has changed in 40 years," said Porter. "But one thing that has remained consistent is our focus on customers. We're here to treat them with respect and dignity, and help them in their time of need. I'm proud to say that I work alongside you and am a part of this organization." By Carla Davis PAGE 7

• Cover